Matt how much did you get your widelux for? I've looked on ebay and they seem to range between about £500 and over £1000, i'd love to have a panoramic camera especially with a swing lens because i've seen some cool images made with those, but i'm on quite a tight budget. Are there any slightly cheaper alternatives?

The 3 main brands of 35mm swing lens pano cameras that I know much about are Widelux (Japan), Noblex (Germany), and Horizon (Russia). The factory that was making the Wideluxes burned down in the 1990s, and no more have ever been made. Noblex and Horizon are still making cameras as far as I know. There are some other brands both vintage and modern. Many of these companies also make 120 versions.

The Horizon 202 usually goes for about half the price of a Widelux. I have a friend who has one, so I borrowed it, and did a shootout between the Horizon 202 and the Widelux F6. Both are mechanical, and start exposing almost as soon as you press the shutter release. The Horizon has twice as many shutter speeds, and smaller f/stops than the Widelux. The Horizon I used felt a little glitchy; things just didn't move and operate as smoothly as I was used to with the Widelux. Both cameras took nice images. Comparing 4"x10" prints I had to really look to see a difference. When I got close, or made bigger enlargements, I could see a difference, mostly in very fine detail. The Widelux lens won the shootout, but the Horizon still took very nice photos, and is more affordable.

I've never used a Noblex. There are several models; prices start about where the Wideluxes start, and go way up! Noblexes are electric, and apparently there is a slight delay between pressing the shutter release, and the start of the exposure. On the other hand the electric motor allows for finer control, and I believe that top of the line models have a light meter modual that actually adjusts the swing speed to control changes in exposure.

My Widelux was given to me by a nice, old guy that used to come into the photo lab where I worked. At one point he was quite into photography, but hadn't used anything fancier than a point-n-shoot in a few decades. We used to talk a lot, and one day he offered to give me some darkroom gear and a bunch of old cameras. He just wanted his closet space back.